Chemistry Reflection
The three main projects we did throughout Chemistry class this year SWPPP, Poisons, and Chem Demos I have tried my hardest to create the best possible outcome . The SWPPP project was probably the most hands on out of all of them, we would go outside daily to clean and check on our drains. I would contribute by helping sweep leaves from the drain borders or taking photos to document the process. Each member of the group had a specific role, I was the presenter. I had the responsibility to create and present a presentation showing our drain, the total suspended solids, and our plan to resolve the issue.
For the poison project my partner Brianna and I chose to research the chemicals behind heroin. The chemical works as a toxin, an addiction is formed after just one try. It is not poisonous, just harmful and highly addictive. I did a majority of the research for this project by answering questions on the document we were assigned to. This was not too difficult but was intriguing to learn about and write responses to.
Lastly for the Chem Demo project Nina and I collaborated to present about chemical reactions in baking. This was probably the project I enjoyed the most because there was so much freedom to choose exactly what we wanted to do. I focused on the sodium bicarbonate reaction when baking cookies and baked three different recipes with varied amounts of baking soda in each. In my end result I found that my first trial was the best, the one with the lease amount of baking soda in the recipe. I put a lot of effort into my presentation to make it understandable and unique. I struggled a bit with the stoichiometry but in the end it made sense.
If I were to re-do a project from this year I would choose to bake more recipes for the Chem Lab project. Maybe I could've done another form such as cake or bread to see other existing reactions. I don't think my effort needs any change, I thoroughly worked hard for this project and got everything completed. Something I struggled with during the content portion was balancing equations. As simple as it may seem it was very confusing for me and often would throw off all my equations. Maybe spending more time learning this in depth would be beneficial since it is a base to almost everything.
Something I can work on for next year is my time planning, this year I tended to save my work until the last minute which ended up being more stressful. If I just did it right in the beginning I would have more time at the end and would be better off overall. This year I learned that I do well when I am prepared. An example of this is the quizzes we did, I would always prepare by having my notes ready and organized. Using my resources helped me immensely and I do not think I would have gotten the grades I did if it weren't for my notes.
A change that could be made to improve this class is shorter warm up problems. Sometimes the daily problems would consist of five or more questions and could take up to the entire class. Although these are beneficial and reinforce the content we learn, I think we could accomplish more if they were not so lengthy.
Right off the bat I was certain that chemistry would not interest me. I've always been a strong English student who never really enjoys math or science. I was fearful of how difficult the class was said to be and I thought I would dread every aspect of it. Instead, I honestly had fun solving equations and learning chemistry. It was much more enjoyable than expected and even though I do not wish to go into the field or pursue it I gained a lot from the class.
Maybe the incoming sophomores can focus on the outcome of the SWPPP project. We did the majority of the background research and the opening steps, but they will need to carry it out. Hopefully they can take action and solve the issues by taking necessary steps such as replacing drains, adding net, or raising awareness with art. SWPPP was not my favorite project and even though I enjoyed aspects of it, I do not think I would want to continue it next year as a project leader.
For the poison project my partner Brianna and I chose to research the chemicals behind heroin. The chemical works as a toxin, an addiction is formed after just one try. It is not poisonous, just harmful and highly addictive. I did a majority of the research for this project by answering questions on the document we were assigned to. This was not too difficult but was intriguing to learn about and write responses to.
Lastly for the Chem Demo project Nina and I collaborated to present about chemical reactions in baking. This was probably the project I enjoyed the most because there was so much freedom to choose exactly what we wanted to do. I focused on the sodium bicarbonate reaction when baking cookies and baked three different recipes with varied amounts of baking soda in each. In my end result I found that my first trial was the best, the one with the lease amount of baking soda in the recipe. I put a lot of effort into my presentation to make it understandable and unique. I struggled a bit with the stoichiometry but in the end it made sense.
If I were to re-do a project from this year I would choose to bake more recipes for the Chem Lab project. Maybe I could've done another form such as cake or bread to see other existing reactions. I don't think my effort needs any change, I thoroughly worked hard for this project and got everything completed. Something I struggled with during the content portion was balancing equations. As simple as it may seem it was very confusing for me and often would throw off all my equations. Maybe spending more time learning this in depth would be beneficial since it is a base to almost everything.
Something I can work on for next year is my time planning, this year I tended to save my work until the last minute which ended up being more stressful. If I just did it right in the beginning I would have more time at the end and would be better off overall. This year I learned that I do well when I am prepared. An example of this is the quizzes we did, I would always prepare by having my notes ready and organized. Using my resources helped me immensely and I do not think I would have gotten the grades I did if it weren't for my notes.
A change that could be made to improve this class is shorter warm up problems. Sometimes the daily problems would consist of five or more questions and could take up to the entire class. Although these are beneficial and reinforce the content we learn, I think we could accomplish more if they were not so lengthy.
Right off the bat I was certain that chemistry would not interest me. I've always been a strong English student who never really enjoys math or science. I was fearful of how difficult the class was said to be and I thought I would dread every aspect of it. Instead, I honestly had fun solving equations and learning chemistry. It was much more enjoyable than expected and even though I do not wish to go into the field or pursue it I gained a lot from the class.
Maybe the incoming sophomores can focus on the outcome of the SWPPP project. We did the majority of the background research and the opening steps, but they will need to carry it out. Hopefully they can take action and solve the issues by taking necessary steps such as replacing drains, adding net, or raising awareness with art. SWPPP was not my favorite project and even though I enjoyed aspects of it, I do not think I would want to continue it next year as a project leader.
Baking Experiment (Chem Demo) |